School board election: District 6 wide open, District 4 features two candidates

By Lindsay Street

Friday, August 8, 2014

The Berkeley County School District school board election is heating up as the Aug. 15 deadline to file approaches. Of the four districts up for reelection, three will have nonincumbent candidates in the race and at least one will not feature an incumbent.

The districts up for reelection are 2, 4, 6 and 8. The election is Tuesday, Nov. 4.

District 2 incumbent Doug Cooper has not said whether or not he intends to run this election season. As of Aug. 7, he had not filed.

On the first day to file, Aug. 1, challenger John McQuillin filed for the seat.

McQuillin told the Independent he’d like to see more fiscal responsibility on the board.

So far two candidates have filed for District 4: Incumbent Shannon Lee and challenger Jeff Reuer. It’s the first district in the race to have more than one confirmed candidate already filed.

Lee is seeking a second term so she can further expand the Stuff-the-Bus campaign and create a parent summit.

“I’d like to work on a way that parents can be more of an active voice in district policy and the school calendar,” Lee said. “I don’t think parent involvement is where it needs to be right now and that’s what I want to work on in the next four years.”

Reuer said increasing input from parents and the community will also be one of his major campaign points.

District 6 incumbent Sheldon Etheridge has confirmed that he will not seek reelection.

“I’m not going to run; I’m moving to Clarendon County,” Etheridge told the Independent. Etheridge said he would not publicly endorse a candidate for his seat at this time but he added: “There are a few people I’d like to see run.”

Sally Wofford is the first to file for District 6. Wofford recently gathered more than 500 signatures to oppose the school board’s consideration of the so-called ban on parent coaches.

“Just the way that it seemed that the community voice or the taxpayers of Berkeley County were not represented by the board prompted me to get involved,” Wofford said. “The purpose of the board is strictly policy making and facility. The board should have less involvement in administration.”

District 8 incumbent Frank Wright has filed for reelection already. He is seeking is fifth term.

“I enjoy doing what I do, I think this will be a great chance to continue the great work that we’ve done,” Wright said. “We worked hard to pass the last bond referendum so we could be progressive and be proactive in creating good schools throughout the whole county.”

He has not received an opponent as of Aug. 7.

Filing closes noon on Friday, Aug. 15.

Comments

Notice about comments:

The Berkeley Independent is pleased to offer readers the enhanced ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. We do not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The Berkeley Independent.

If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website. Read our full terms and conditions.